Resource: What to do after a death
Palliative Care Australia has a range of helpful resources for patients and their families. There is also a sub-section in every state. Here’s a quick-to-read post explaining the dying process and what to expect.
Here’s a little sample of the post regarding what to do after a death has occured. I’ve added a few extra ideas to this section too.
What to do after a death
If the death is expected, you don’t have to contact anyone immediately unless you want to. It is important that you do everything in your own time. There is no need to hurry.
Telephone a relative or friend if you want them to be with you. If the person dies during the night you can wait until morning before you notify the doctor or nurse, or you can call them straight away. Make sure that the person’s doctor or other health care provider attends to write a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death within 48hours. This is needed for transporting the person’s body, when you decide it is time.
You can sponge away any perspiration or body fluids that worry you. It is not necessary to bathe the person completely, unless you want to. The palliative care nurse can help you to do this if you would like to.
If the person wished to stay at home, or you wish to keep them at home for a period of time:
The person’s body can stay at home for as long as you wish or need, especially if you would like friends and relatives to come and say their goodbyes.
Turn off or remove sources of heat such as room heaters, electric blankets and hot water bottles.
Turn on the airconditioning, if available.
Straighten the person, or ask someone else to do this for you, because their limbs will stiffen. Replace dentures, if they were removed. I suggest a rolled up towel is placed under the chin to gently close the mouth and that a eye-pillow or beanbag is on hand to place over the eyelids to close them. A little bag of rice will also work to close the eyes.
You may also like to hire a cooling plate if you keep your loved one at home for longer or if you live in a hot climate. A quick websearch can provide options (hint: ask someone to organise this for you).
When it is time to say goodbye:
To transport your person’s body, you will need to have a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. A doctor can provide this document.
Many people call a funeral director when they are ready to have the person taken from the home, but there are also other options if you do not wish to engage a funeral company.
Note that if you do not use a funeral director, you should ensure you register the death yourself. The link for doing this in QLD is here. This is different to the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.
What next?
The time after a death can be a very busy and stressful period for those close to the person. It is important to take care of yourself and also ensure that you take up offers to help with arrangements. Therapy can be useful for some people, but other people prefer to take things day by day.
The State Governments of Australia have useful links to cover some of the practical side of things. Including this advice from the QLD Government:
The Australian Death Notification Service lets you notify multiple organisations of a death through one simple and secure process, reducing the number of painful conversations.
You can use this checklist of tasks as a helpful reminder of what needs to be done after a funeral.